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Date Posted: 14:18:39 07/09/03 Wed
Author: Star-Telegram
Subject: 2004 Cowtown course not determined, race organizers open to suggestions

Posted on Wed, Jul. 09, 2003



Cowtown running downtown

By Kathleen O'Brien
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


This year's Cowtown Marathon races drew 12,038 runners, a number organizers hope will grow with changes beginning in 2004.

The Stockyards have been good to the Cowtown Marathon.

The area has been home to the race for 25 years, since its inception in 1979. The Stockyards have seen the race's growth and the addition of a 10K run, 5K and marathon relay.

But downtown Fort Worth could be even better for the next 25 years of the Cowtown Marathon, which is why the event will move to Sundance Square for its 26th running Feb. 28, 2004.

"We have been presented with an opportunity that we just did not think we could pass up," race director Jim Gilliland said. "The Stockyards have been great to us, but Sundance Square has come in and asked us that we move downtown."

Gilliland announced the move at a downtown meeting Tuesday evening. The marathon also plans to change its starting time to 7:30 a.m., an hour earlier, in an effort to keep marathoners out of the midday heat. Additional water stops will be placed along the course, as well.

Cowtown Marathon officials hope the changes will help the event grow while maintaining its roots. Last year, 12,038 people participated in the Cowtown races. But the marathon had only 754 finishers, a number that has not grown significantly.

"Over the years, they've been trying to build this downtown area," said David Cabral, Fort Worth Runners Club vice president. "They're just really building up Fort Worth as a place that's really kicking and moving. To bring runners for the future, that's what it's about."

Fort Worth councilman Jim Lane, an ardent supporter of the city's North Side, said he doesn't believe the move will generate more participants.

"Baloney," Lane said. "The 25-year-plus history is in the Stockyards. It started there, and I hate to see it move downtown."

Nearly every major marathon in the United States is based downtown, and Cowtown aspires to be a premiere race.

To get there, it must attract more out-of-town runners, and the proximity of downtown hotels to Sundance Square will be a boost.

Cowtown also needs more repeat runners from the Fort Worth/Dallas area, and it could get them if the new course eliminates some hills and provides more shade.

The 2004 courses have not been determined, but race organizers are open to suggestions.

Steve Murrin, president of the Stockyards Business Association, said: "We hate losing another event to Sundance, but we'll just keep doing events. Obviously, they [the Cowtown organizers] feel like it's the right thing to do for them. It's a great Fort Worth event, and I'm all for great Fort Worth events."

Sundance Square will offer free parking for the Cowtown Marathon.

Pre-race registration and packet pick-up will be held at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel.

The post-race celebration will be held in a 2,000-person climate-controlled tent in Sundance Square.

Staff Writer Anna Tinsley Contributed to This Report.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM/RICHARD W. RODRIGUEZ
Kathleen O'Brien, (817) 548-5481 kobrien@star-telegram.com
ONLINE:www.cowtownmarathon.org





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2003 Star Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com

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